INFOGRAPHIC/ARTICLE: Why Taylor Swift Offends Little Monsters, Feminists, and Weirdos

[Ryan Goble]

Came across this old blog "Why Taylor Swift Offends Little Monsters, Feminists, and Weirdos" this week. The essay was written after the whole Kanye/VAM/Swift incident in 2009 and Swift's winning of a Grammy in 2010. It is fairly well written, not at all something students can read in class but loaded with ideas that would make a great springboard to an interesting lesson. It would be especially powerful if students did some compare and contrast with other female artists.  At any rate this passage gives you a sense of the blog -

Rather than choosing an established/evolved talent (Beyoncé) or a revolutionary (Lady Gaga), the Grammys chose someone who, according to her lyrics, has spent her entire life waiting for phone calls and dreaming about horses and sunsets.

Though the debate over her performance skills is a well-beaten horse at this point, her unequivocal worthiness as a role model for girls has been accepted complacently; at least within my limited purview.

Listen up; if I ever get my life together enough to reproduce other life forms, they will not be joining Taylor Nation - they will be brave, creative, inventive, envelope-pushing little monsters who will find a pretty, skinny white blonde girl in a white peasant shirt strolling through nature-themed screensaver-esque fantasylands singing about how "when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you, you’re gonna believe them" not only sappy, but also insulting to their inevitable brilliance.

The best part about the article was this excellent (and humorous) infographic that would certainly be a great model for looking at and comparing the messages, sophistication and themes of a wide range of poets, writers and musicians.

From: http://www.autostraddle.com/why-taylor-swift-offends-little-monster...

[Shirley Durr]

First, I'm not a Taylor Swift fan. I didn't recognize her name or face on tabloid covers at the checkout lane until the last few months, and I've never heard her music to my knowledge. (Maybe background noise somewhere or in passing, but with no idea who's performing.)

That said, I found the blog's visuals intriguing but the words left something to be desired. I agree with you: it may not be an article for students to read. The best/teachable parts are

• the infographic (Love it!)
• the Saving Jane comparisons (When I clicked what the article gave for the video, it was not available but I found it here)

But I believe the more words riese (the blogger) wrote, the more vitriolic and unnecessarily derisive it became.

I think she got it wrong about Swift as a bad role model for girls (which seems to be her main theme). It seems to me Swift has taken adolescent angst that many teen girls suffer, articulated it in music and lyrics, and sublimated it to highlight her own ethics -- a better tact than drugs or suicide which is how some teens deal with angst.

For me, it was enough for the blogger to explicate why Swift's Grammy was undeserved because her music is derivative or plagiarized. Nothing new there. Somebody accused Lady Gaga (or was it Beyonce?) of similarly plagiarizing Madonna (or was it ...) --  with side by side videos presented as evidence. Dare we accuse riese the blogger of the same sin? Maybe it's because I'm black, but exploiting others' talents and creative efforts has a long and documented history in my world.

The blogger's other accusations against Swift?

• Swift is successful because her parents had the resources to help make her dreams become reality. Well, the same could be said of Whitney Houston, George Clooney, Drew Barrymore, Willow Smith (and her brother Jaden), and other celebrities whose family members had/have money, connections, or some other advantage to offer a child seeking fame. This kind of privilege litters recorded history. Being black, I understand the unearned privileges and unfair advantages that come with family connections. But I'm not bitter because others have it while I don't.
• Swift's songs encourage abstinence and discourage promiscuity. Well, other songs reverse that. Teens are exposed to various values espoused through entertainment. It's up to the wiser people in their lives -- family, teachers, mentors -- to help them sort through what's out there and find their own. If Swift is honestly voicing her beliefs, disagree but don't deride her for it.
• Swift doesn't have life experiences to give her message profundity. Who did at 20? Swift's audience also doesn't have that life experience.  Maybe that's why they "get" Swift. They recognize themselves. In the same way, riese the blogger 't shows a lack of experience with things biblical and religious -- and doesn't "get" Swift. Understandable but no condemnation is called for.

To most of the above, I say: So what? It's popular culture and this too is likely to pass . If it doesn't, then I'll worry. But I've seem/heard that Swift is marketing a new, more matureimage that is more sexualized. I wonder what riese the blogger thinks of that move?

[Ryan Goble]

Shirley, on the real - your response was more thoughtful and interesting than her blog. You read it much more thoughtfully than I did - I was more dazzled by the infographic. Yeah, the redundancies were many (and I should probably edit my description above from "fairly well written" to "a fair essay" - however the richness of your response does highlight how the blogger put a lot on the table for adults and kids to talk about.  It sounds like you're ready to tackle the lesson plan!

I think in the end you might agree w/ the blogger as she is a bit metacognative about her writing and I love when she says...

However, before I brought it up again (especially this late, as the backlash-to-the-backlash part is over and we're now in the Valley of WhoCares, which is clearly where I "thrive")

So she burns all these words also thinking, "so what?" That said, I do think a lot of interesting issues play out in popular culture more powerfully then they do in politics (hence my Cultural Studies bent) and think her blog and your response point to something way beyond the "so what." This of course is the paradox of pop. Thanks so much for this and all your interesting / insightful shares at the site - your students must love your classes!

[Shirley Durr]

Thanx for the compliments. Imagine me blushing with embarrassment.

I didn't catch that metacognitive quote from the blog. (Now imagine a shame blush.)  I love it when bloggers are reflective and I think this points more to the theme than what I thought it was. Perhaps the blogger is more like me than I thought -- "Valley of WhoCares" -- but I think she answers her own question by pointing out how pop culture becomes culture and that's the reason to care. (I'm assuming "she" because I have a student named Riese and see her in the blogger.)

I agree with you that pop culture is powerful and important for all the issues it highlights. That's why I'm here in this site. However, I tend to focus on the ones that linger instead of those that just pass through but maybe I need to re-think that. While I'm thinking it's just popped out and gone away maybe it explodes, destroying what was, sometimes leaving lasting damage and sometimes creating something new. Paradox is definitely the word. One of my favorites.

Your students must truly love your classes. (Back at ya!)

[Ryan Goble]

Some of it (pop) is great and much more is "meh" but it seems like there is a lot to learn from it all. I mean what is a Roman Archaeology dig if not an exploration of the popular (in many cases)? This book is my absolute fav for making something out of what seems blah The John Fiske Collection: Reading the Popular - his essay reading the Australian beaches is really fascinating. And the paradox lives on.
BTW - was at Target yesterday - you know you can now get Taylor Swift greeting cards!